Trinity Trails "Could" Stretch To An Imaginary 219 Miles

Saturday night I was enjoying an immensely stimulating intellectual debate with D/FW's Trag Tickley, he being one of Facebook's most prolific instigators of thought stimulating debate.

Trag Tickley is so persuasive he almost has me turning into one of those left-leaning, liberal, progressive, free thinking American sorts.

So, after that Saturday night of sublime intense intellectual stimulation, the next morning Trag Tickley brought me back to the ridiculous, to yet one more embarrassingly stupid Fort Wort Star-Telegram propaganda piece, complete with an idiotic quote from Fort Worth's Mayor, Betsy Price.

Trag Tickley pointed me to this via a Facebook message which said...

Enjoy the delusional Betsy Price nugget buried in this story.

The "story" to which Trag Tickley refers is Expansion plans: Trinity Trails could stretch to 219 miles.

The use of the word "could" in the article title is a good clue you are about to read a Star-Telegram propaganda piece.

First paragraph contains the first error...

From zero to 72 miles in about 15 years, the Trinity Trails has become quite the attraction for bicyclists, joggers and all sorts of outdoor enthusiasts across Tarrant County.

From zero to 72 miles? When I arrived in Texas, late in the last century, longer than 15 years ago, there were already miles of  paved Trinity Trails trailing alongside the shade-free Trinity River.

Oh yes, those Trinity Trails have become quite the attraction across Tarrant County. Unless, you know, you live in the Arlington part of Tarrant County with close access to River Legacy Park and that park's miles of paved trails, shaded by trees, along the Trinity River.

And then this paragraph...

According to the draft of a proposed strategic plan of the Trinity Trails, that could grow an to impressive 219 miles, closing gaps between 18 cities and along waterways, and creating a tourism mecca as well as a economic development opportunities. The trails would run along all 90 miles of the Trinity River in Tarrant County.

There we have the "could" word again. Yes 219 miles could/would be impressive. As would be creating any sort of tourism mecca in a part of America currently lacking any tourism meccas.

And this...

For example, the trails would loop completely around Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Benbrook. Or, someone in Crowley could get on the trails and make it up to north Saginaw, some 30 miles away, or from White Settlement to past River Legacy Park in Arlington. Eventually the trails will connect into Dallas.

Oh yes, one can really see that happening, paved trails looping around those two lakes. And someone from Crowley biking all the way to Saginaw. I have been hearing about that imaginary possible trail connection to Dallas ever since I have been in Texas.

Plus this...

“It’s pretty inspiring,” Pierce said. Steams & Valleys raised $450,000 to hire California-based MIG Inc. consultants to shepherd and write the new 10-year plan. “We’ve had a lot of great river plans, but things change so fast now. Is this very ambitious? No question it is. We want to look ahead to the river we want to have.” Consultants are in the thick of the planning process, asking for suggestions from groups, city leaders and the public.

Yeah. really inspiring. Somehow a California consultant firm was able to milk about a half million bucks from the local rubes to help come up with a plan as to where to pave imaginary trails which will never happen, judging, am I, by how little seems to happen with any sort of urgency in this lethargic part of America.

We've had a lot of great river plans? Things change so fast now? Consultants are in the thick of this trail planning process? Asking for suggestions? Who writes this stuff? Who approves it for publishing?

How are those three simple little bridges being built across dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island coming along? Along with the rest of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision?

Is Fort Worth's downtown homage to its founding, Heritage Park, still a boarded up eyesore?

Read the Expansion plans: Trinity Trails could stretch to 219 miles in its entirety for the full propaganda lunacy.

We will end with what Trag Tickely referred to as a delusional nugget from Betsy Price...

Mayor Betsy Price called the draft an amazing plan so far. “It used to be a muddy ditch. It’s a jewel now,” she said of the Trinity River.

During my time in Texas the Trinity River has not changed one iota. It was a littered, muddy, don't eat the fish you catch, polluted mess when I arrived and if anything, it is more littered, muddy and polluted now, in 2017. But, Fort Worth's mayor thinks the muddy ditch has turned into a jewel.

And people wonder why I and others think Fort Worth is totally ill-served by the fools who get elected to local public office and the sad excuse for a newspaper which reports on their embarrassing nonsense without identifying it as such...

Gateway Park's Muddy Mountain Bike Trails Had Me Pedaling On Pavement Before Getting A Town Talk Chill

The outer world was dark and foreboding when I exited my abode a short while before noon, to drive to Gateway Park to get myself some endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation via sitting atop two fast spinning wheels rolling over a mountain bike trail.

That plan was quickly aborted, about 10 feet on to the Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association Trail, when I found my bike tires sloshing through thick mud.

Rolling over paved trails was the back up plan. I soon rolled past the memorial to Gateway Park's most recent drowning victim, and the boarded up boardwalk eyesores, soon exiting Gateway Park on to the Trinity Trails.

In the picture above you are on top of the bridge one crosses to exit Gateway Park to the Trinity Trails. As you can see, the photo documents that dark and foreboding thing I mentioned a few paragraphs ago.

In the center of the picture, that slash of white is Trinity Falls. I am almost 100% this is not a natural water fall, but the result of the most easterly Fort Worth impoundment of the Trinity River as it flows past the levee controlled zone to the non-levee-ed section of the river that passes through Gateway Park.

I am finding the humidity to be a bit more oppressive than I remember humidity being in past humid times. The ultra humidity does not much impact my early morning swim, but does impact midday aerobic activity.

As long as I am pedaling fast the wind chill keeps me adequately cooled.

But, when I stop, as when I stop to do some hydrating, or the two minutes it takes to get the bike secured and turn on the engine and the A/C, I quickly over heat.

Today I had not planned on going to Town Talk, but since Town Talk was so close and I was so HOT, the Town Talk walk-in cooler sounded like a real good idea.

And so it was.

That and I got myself a case of Orange Juice, BBQ Pork, Cornish Game Hens and a big bag of Bleu Cheese among one or two other things.

Why Did I Get My Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Summer Update In The Middle Of Spring?

What with everyone knowing that summer is well under way, and what with an election coming up in a couple days, which may greatly impact its fate, of course, in my mailbox this morning of May 9, it makes perfectly good sense that I would find VOLUME  VII - ISSUE I - SUMMER 2013 of the TRINITY RIVER VISION UPDATE.

I can not imagine why, but this summer's TRV Boondoggle Update contains a lot of information about the Tarrant Regional Water District and all the amazing things that public agency is doing to improve water quality, mitigate flood dangers and guarantee a good supply of good water well into the next century.

I trust when you read the above two paragraphs you remembered to have your sarcasm detectors on.

The entire first page one sees when one opens this TRV Boondoggle Update is devoted to "TRWD Around Town."

We learn that the TRWD has solved that extremely serious problem of people getting lost on the Trinity Trails. I am sure, like me, you have lost track of the number of stories you've read about people getting hopelessly lost on the confusing maze of Trinity Trails.

The first paragraph about the "Signs of Improvement Along the Trinity River"...

Thanks to the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) the Trinity Trails are getting some fancy schmancy new signage! Last year signage was added  that educated users how to access the Trinity Trails. Now that you can get there, signage is being added to help you navigate the trail system.

So, if I am understanding correctly, last year the TRWD educated trail users as to how to get  on to the Trinity Trails. Education like drive your car to a Trinity Trails parking lot, park, then walk to the clearly visible trail. But don't walk on the trail til next year when signage is added to help you navigate the terribly difficult to navigate Trinity Trail system?

The second paragraph about Trinity River signs improvement is also amusing...

The 26 new trail map signs have been individually tailored to include specific details related to your current location as noted with new "You Are Here" markings. The new location specific maps will point out amenities that are closest to you such as water fountains, restrooms, fishing piers, canoe launches and more. The maps also include mile markers so you can easily identify how far you are from certain destinations.

Fishing piers? Where are the fishing piers on the Trinity River? I guess I can find out via these new signs. Restrooms? Are we talking about the outhouses by the Rockin' the River zone across from Panther Island?

Speaking of Panther Island. On page 2 of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Update there is the headline "Paving the way to Panther Island."

Under that headline there is this short paragraph...

Three signature V-pier bridges will go out for bid together this November. By packaging the three bridges together a tremendous amount of money will be saved. Construction is scheduled to begin this winter.

I think I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of propaganda.

Signature V-pier bridges? In the original version of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle there were to be 3 signature bridges, with "signature" at that time meaning bridges designed by world renowned bridge designers, such as those who designed the 3 signature bridges for the Dallas version of the Trinity River Vision, with one of the Dallas bridges already completed and looking quite impressive.

The TRV Boondoggle had to abandon its "signature" bridges when the price tag came in too high. Hence the three V-pier bridges that are being referred to as "signature" bridges.

So, the TRVB lost its original "signature" bridges to save money. And is now touting packaging these 3 V-pier bridges together as being a big money saver.

I believe these 3 non-signature bridges had to be added to the TRV Boondoggle when the un-needed flood diversion channel was added in order to help pretend the TRV Boondoggle was a flood control project, not an economic development project, and thus help with the getting of some federal money to help pay for the un-needed flood control, un-needed, due to the fact that levees built over a half a century ago, have prevented any flooding in the TRV Boondoggle zone.

Does everyone know what the word "hubris" means?

Does Fort Worth Sanction Graffiti On The Trinity Trails?

Does Fort Worth have any sort of anti-graffiti ordinance?

Yesterday, in the Rockin' the River zone on the Trinity Trail, I came upon some rather elaborate graffiti.

The graffiti was a painted on pavement version of the advertisement the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle puts in local publications like Fort Worth Weekly and DFW.com Ink Edition.

How does one paint such a thing on pavement and how much does it cost to do so?

Does doing such a thing require a permit from the city?

It would seem the process of installing this graffiti would block the Trinity Trail for the duration of the installation and whatever drying time was required.

I think I'll take a stencil and go paint my blog address all over the Trinity Trail today.

Or not.

White Pickup Trucks, Cars & Tires Today On The Quanah Parker Park Trail

White Pickup Truck Rapidly Heading Towards Me
On The Quanah Parker Park Trail

Today, on my way to Town Talk, I parked at Quanah Parker Park so that I could walk on the Quanah Parker Park Trail to check out a new section of Quanah Parker Park Trail that has had me a bit perplexed as I have observed its construction as I passed by on Randol Mill Road.

I had myself an encounter with a white pickup truck on the Quanah Parker Park Trail today.

If I remember right I have previously mentioned my encounters with white pickup trucks on trail in Fort Worth parks.

Today's white pickup truck encounter did not seem as sinister as some of my previous white pickup truck encounters.

There has been some upgrading going on in Quanah Parker Park in the past couple months. The fixing of the flood damaged entry road. New signage. Many added park benches.

New Trail To The Right, Old Trail To The Left

And then a month or so ago, at the point where the paved trail makes a long oxbow, following a bend in the Trinity River, bulldozers graded a path that ran parallel to Randol Mill Road.

I figured this was preparation for the laying of yet one more Barnett Shale Natural Gas Pipeline.

Instead this turned out to be a new section of paved trail, sort of making a detour around the oxbow.

Why would the City of Fort Worth spend money building this new paved trail, an addition to a trail that is not very heavily used, when there are so many places in Fort Worth that really could use a sidewalk?

The long long long term plan for the Dallas/Fort Worth towns, through with the Trinity River passes, is to connect Dallas with Fort Worth, and the towns in between, via paved biking, pedestrian trails. Fort Worth, Dallas and Arlington have all done a very good job building paved trails along the Trinity River.

But, there are a lot of gaps in the paved trail in Fort Worth. For instance the Quanah Parker Trail does not connect with the Gateway Park Trail and thus connect to the Trinity Trails. The Quanah Parker Trail is the furthest east that the Fort Worth paved trails travel.

There is maybe a 10 or 12 mile gap before you get to the Trinity River Trail that runs through River Legacy Park, in Arlington, almost all the way to Highway 360. And then another gap of maybe 15 miles before you get to the Dallas paved trails.

Methinks it really should be some sort of priority to fill in these gaps. Me also thinks if a paved bike/pedestrian trail extended from Fort Worth to Dallas that it would be very popular. Maybe not Burke Gilman in Seattle level of popular, with bike shops and places to eat along the way, but still popular. And who knows, maybe a snack bar and coffee shop might spring up along the route.

Crazy Man Driving Down The Quanah Parker Trail

In addition to the white pickup truck heading towards me today there were a couple other strange things that happened.

When I stopped to take the picture of the new trail that you see above, behind me was yet another white pickup truck. And behind that white pickup truck there was a car parked. As I snapped a picture the car started its engine and began driving down the oxbow section of the paved trail.

I found this to be very bizarre.

And then after I snapped a picture of the car careening down the oxbow section of the Quanah Parker Park Trail I turned around to see something I've been seeing in another park that I frequent.

Quanah Parker Park Tires

The Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Where in the past couple months 3 mysterious tires have appeared in an isolated area of the park, with two of them being BIG heavy tires.

And now today I find all these tires laying on the ground next to the Quanah Parker Park Trail?

Who put them there? And why?

Are they lined up waiting to be moved to the Tandy Hills?

I tell you, there needs to be some investigating into the goings on that go on in some of Fort Worth's parks.

It is all very perplexing.

Biking Fort Worth's Trinity Trail With Homeless People And Water Pumpers

I took a sunset bike ride out of Gateway Park tonight, on to the Trinity Trail. It was quite a bit chillier than the last time I pedaled the Trinity Trail. In the picture above I'm at the end of tonight's bike ride, standing on the dam/bridge that makes Trinity Falls, looking west, under the Beach Street Bridge, across the Trinity River, at the Fort Worth Mixmaster.

Before I saw the sun set I pedaled west about 6 or 7 miles. At one point I was surprised to see big trucks ahead. They left a cloud of obnoxious dust as they cockroached out of sight. And then I came upon part of what the occupants of the trucks were working on. A big new water sucking operation on the Trinity River. The biggest water sucking pipes I've seen yet. That is the pump below.

Practically every day I am annoyed by a billboard admonishing me to save water by getting a water saving toilet. Do all the water wasting toilets in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex "waste" as much water in a year as these water sucking operations "waste" in a day?

I pedaled under the I-35 bridge, across the Trinity, for another half mile or so. I wanted to take a picture, if I could, of the Mercado Juarez Cafe on the north side of the river. I found no vantage point that afforded the opportunity to take a good picture, this was the best I could do, with the Mercado Juarez being the white building, on the left, surrounded by trees. I am currently scheduled to meet a pair of incoming Washingtonians at the Mercado Juarez tomorrow. I had been erroneously informed that this was to take place today.

A short distance past where I took the picture of Mercado Juarez I came to a surprise. The Trinity Trail is being upgraded, with new cement. It does not seem all that long ago that the current trail was opened. A cement trail will be an improvement. I could not figure out how the detour worked, up over the levee, or what? So, I turned around.

When I turned around I saw, hovering above the Trinity River Levee, a mountain of pavement debris. I assume this mountain is made up of the old, now replaced Trinity Trail. What is it with making these type piles here? The mountain of litter where the Gateway Park trail joins the Trinity Trail is still in place, weeks after being built.

I thought I was done with this blogging. I forgot to mention tonight's homeless people. There was a group of 6 or 7 under the Riverside Drive Bridge. This was a co-ed group. They seemed quite settled in, with blankets and sleeping bags. They will need the blankets tonight.

So will I.

Pedaling At Sunset In Fort Worth Past The Trinity Trail Homeless People

I started pedaling before 7. It really was not as dark as this picture would make you think. In the picture I've just left Gateway Park, crossed the Trinity River on the Dam/Bridge that was flooded, a week ago today, pedaled up to the top of the levee and stopped because the sun was doing some interesting lighting that I thought might make an interesting photo.

Yesterday I came up 5 homeless people walking on the Trinity Trail. Two pairs and one guy solo. I was hoping today to see no homeless people.

Continuing on, in a mile or two I came to a flock of swan-like birds, floating in the Trinity River. I assumed they got the memo from J.D. Granger that the Tarrant Regional Water Board has been working successfully for decades to turn the formerly polluted Trinity River into super clean water, safe to swim and inner tube in.


In the above picture I'm the furthest I made it on tonight's sunset bikeride, to the west side of the I-35 Freeway, a short distance from the Fort Worth Stockyards, which, if I remember right, is a couple more miles of pedaling. That shelter in the foreground is a water oasis.

The above is what I saw when I turned around from the view of the I-35 Freeway and the water oasis, two of the more, uh, interesting, downtown Fort Worth Skyscrapers, peeking up above a line of trees.

Now the homeless person report.

I saw none wandering the Trinity Trails. However, under the Riverside Drive Bridge there was a group of 5 or 6. On my way out, one asked, as I pedaled by, "How's it go'in, man?" I said, "fine."

On the return two of the under the bridge homeless people appeared to be sleeping. None of those still awake howdied me as I passed.

There were a couple females pedaling tonight on the Trinity Trails and one jogging. I would think that group under the bridge might make a girl a bit nervous. I'm not a girl and they made me nervous. The scene had a sort of post-apocalyptic look to it. Blade Runner in Fort Worth.

I'm liking my sunset bike rides. Except for the homeless people part. That and the giant flying things that hit me. Tonight I think I may have been slammed by a bat. Whatever it was, it was big.

Riding Into The Sunset Past Mountains Of Litter In Fort Worth

As you can read on the sign. It is time to team up to clean up the Trinity River, with a Trash Bash, September 18. I don't know if that clean up will be in time for the latest massive J.D. Granger inspired inner tube float down the Trinity.

I liked my sunset bike ride so much last night, I decided to go on another sunset bike ride tonight, starting from Gateway Park, with the duo purpose of checking up on how the humongous pile of littler is holding up that I showed you a few days ago.

I thought I might have the Gateway Park parking lot to myself. As I often am, I was wrong. A lot of cars were pulling in to the park. There were rugby games, softball games and other ball games going on. Before I unloaded my bike I saw other bikers returning from rides.

After pumping some air into my front tire, I was on my way. As I passed Fort Woof I saw dozens upon dozens of canines. A few of them chased me the length of the fence. Very frustrating for them that they could not get to me.

Soon after getting chased by the dogs I crossed the bridge out of Gateway Park to the Trinity Trails.


As you can see, the water has receded, the big pipe no longer under the flood waters of the Trinity and the floating litter and debris is now resting peacefully on the ground. The smell was not very pleasant in this location.

As you can see, Trinity Falls is back falling. As you can also see, due to the sun setting, depending on which way I'm aiming my camera I get a different lighting scenario.


On Thursday there was a several feet high pile of litter at this location, right next to the pedestrian bridge. As you can see, it is gone. Where it went to is interesting.


The litter was moved to make temporary, I hope, Mount Trinity. I wonder why the effort was made to clean the litter from one spot, only to move it 50 feet away to another spot and pile it higher? I hope it does not spontaneously combust.

A week ago tomorrow I would be drowning if I were at the location I am in the picture, on top of the Trinity Falls Dam/Bridge. But Trinity Falls is now peacefully falling underneath the Dam/Bridge where it properly belongs. A large pile of litter did not quite make it over the barrier during the flood and remains stuck, as you can see.

In the picture I am under the Riverside Street Bridge, looking west as the sun sets over the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth. I pedaled another couple miles before deciding it was time to turn around. The roundtrip ended up being a little over 10 miles.

Now we are back at the parking lot we started from. Looking at one of the ubiquitous outhouses that grace, well, more accurately, disgrace many of Fort Worth's parks.

Gateway Park's various ballfields are very well done. The baseball/softball fields have an actual restroom facility. But the rugby fields and soccer fields, that were built to replace the fields lost to the takeover, by Chesapeake Energy, of ballfields at the north end of Oakland Boulevard, do not have modern facilities. Or running water. Just a half dozen, or more outhouses.

A food vendor was selling something to eat at the entry to the rugby field. I thought modern American cities did not allow such things without proper sanitation facilities.

I saw something tonight that bothered me a lot more than Fort Worth's lack of proper amenities in its parks. But, I do not want to talk about it right now. Maybe in the morning.

It's Cooler in Washington

Biking the Trinity Trail today from Gateway Park to the Stockyards I came upon a section of the trail that had little inspirational messages chalked onto the pavement. Blurbs like "Love, Live, Learn" or "Encourage the Person Next to You."

This must have been for some race or walk charity type thing. When the trail went by a church I came to the last of the messages, that being that "You Made It!"

Only one of the chalked messages seemed out of whack, though it made perfectly good sense to me, that being the one you see in the photo, "It's cooler in Washington." I don't know what meaning of the word cooler the writer is intending. Either would be right. I suspect in this case cooler is likely a temperature comment.

Biking the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth

I have not been on my bike much in the past several months. I've been enjoying hiking at Tandy Hills Park instead. But this week I rode the mountain bike trail for 11 plus miles at River Legacy Park for the first time in a long time. New sections of trail have been added. It was all in the best shape I'd ever seen it.

I felt so good after biking at River Legacy that today I decided to pedal another trail I used to do all the time, but have not in months. That being the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. There are 30 some miles of paved trails along side the Trinity River in Fort Worth.

I started my ride at Gateway Park. Gateway Park is where Fort Woof is located. Gateway Park is on the north side of I-30, directly across from Tandy Hills Park. Gateway Park supposedly has a new mountain bike trail. I pedaled all over, but was unable to find it. So I hit the Trinity Trail. That's it above where you see a bridge atop a dam. The trail crosses these type dams in several places.

Usually I pedal about 7 miles, turning around when I am in view of the Fort Worth Stockyards. But today was being a lotta fun. A heavy wind pushing me had me sailing over 25mph a couple times. I knew I was gonna pay for it when I headed back into the wind.

Usually I see no one on this section of the Trinity Trail. But today I saw at least 6 other bikers. And two walkers. But they were homeless people under bridges. The homeless people are usually the only humans I see on this section of the Trinity Trail. The section that runs from downtown, west, is where you'll usually see humans. And no homeless people.

I saw 2 vexing things during my ride, other than the 2 homeless people. The first one was right after I pedaled under I-35 I saw something new. A shelter with a bench and 3 drinking fountains, one on ground level for dogs, a mid-level one for kids and a taller one for bigger people. But the oasis turned out to be a mirage. As in the water fountains produced no water. I could have used some more water. When I went by the mirage on my way back there were a pair of bikers pushing on the buttons trying to get water. The City of Fort Worth has been having some budget woes. Maybe they didn't pay the water bill.

The other vexing really surprised me. When I got in view of the Stockyards, on the other side of the river, not far from that side of the river's trail, a gas drilling company rig is in full operation. I'd not seen this brand before. FGDC, I think were the initials, but my bad eyes could not read what the F word was. I know what my F word was at that moment, though.

This was at the 7 mile mark, or so. Usually this is when I turn around. But I saw construction cranes where the new downtown Tarrant County Community College is being built. When I last saw the construction zone they were cutting into the Trinity Bluff, shoring it up with steel and cement. And now the building is well underway. From what I saw I think this is going to be a real good addition to downtown Fort Worth.

I've always been impressed by the Main Street Bridge that crosses the Trinity River, connecting downtown to the Stockyards and beyond. There is an historical marker near the bridge on the opposite side from where I was. I can't remember what makes it historical, but I think it was something like being the first bridge to use concrete arches. Or something like that. I was too worn out at the 10 mile mark to add another 1 to get to the other side to read the historical marker.

But what struck me today is it is sort of sad that few see this bridge. The Trinity Trail runs under it, but no road comes into view of it. So, those Texans who are constitutionally restricted to walking distances no greater than 10 feet, have never seen this bridge. One troubling thing I noticed. One of the support trusses attached to one of the arches, was cracked. If this were an earthquake zone that would be worrisome.

That is the Main Street Bridge in the photo, just part of it. That is the arch that has the cracked truss on top of it. That is Radio Shack's Headquarters on the other side of the arch. It's a scenic spot. That few see. I think when the new TCC campus opens up, many more people will get an appreciation of this bridge. And this section of the Trinity Trails.

So, I ended up biking about 20 miles. There is little shade and I ended up being out in the sun for about an hour and a half, shirtless. So, I have my first minor sunburn in a long long while.